Member countries, governing bodies and capital

NIB was established on 4 December 1975 through an intergovernmental treaty between Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. On 1 January 2005, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania became members of the Bank.

As an international financial institution, the Bank is governed by constituent documents adopted by the member countries. The structure of NIB's Board of Governors, Board of Directors and Control Committee reflects the Bank's ownership.

Constituent documents

NIB is governed by its constituent documents, namely the Agreement between its member countries and the Statutes, as well as the Host Country Agreement concluded between NIB and the government of Finland. These establish that NIB is the member countries' common international financial institution (linked to Glossary), which has the same status as other legal persons conducting similar operations within and outside the member countries.

Furthermore, the constituent documents stipulate that NIB has the status of an international legal person with full legal capacity, define the immunities and privileges of the Bank and its personnel, and set out the structure for the governance of the Bank.

Authorised capital

NIB's authorised capital amounts to approximately EUR 6,142 million. NIB’s member countries have subscribed the authorised capital according to a distribution key based on the eight member countries' gross national income.

The authorised capital consists of paid-in capital and callable capital. About 6.82% of the subscribed authorised capital stock is paid in. The remainder of the authorised capital consists of callable capital, which is subject to call if the Board of Directors deems it necessary. In addition to the paid-in and callable capital, the Bank has various reserves.

The Bank may make loans and issue guarantees up to a total amount equivalent to 250% of the authorised capital stock and accumulated general reserves. In addition to these limits, the Bank has special lending facilities guaranteed by the member countries.

Member country

Rating*

Authorised capital

Country's share

Denmark

Aaa/AAA

1,293,922,083 €

21.1%

Estonia

A1/AA-

56,254,434 €

0.9%

Finland

Aa1/AA+

1,088,148,207 €

17.7%

Iceland

A3/A

58,075,722 €

0.9%

Latvia

A3/A

82,072,738 €

1.3%

Lithuania

A3/A

119,795,914 €

2.0%

Norway

Aaa/AAA

1,320,805,204 €

21.5%

Sweden

Aaa/AAA

2,122,828,784 €

34.6%

Total

6,141,903,086 €

100.0%

* Credit ratings by Moody's and Standard & Poor's as of 21 September 2018

Structure and management

Each member country designates a governor for the Bank's Board of Governors, which is the supreme decision-making body. The Control Committee is the Bank's supervisory body. The Board of Directors makes policy decisions concerning the operations and approves the financial transactions proposed by NIB's President. NIB's President is responsible for the conduct of the current operations of the Bank. The President is assisted in his or her work by the Executive Committee, the Asset and Liability Committee, the Credit Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Business and Technology Committee.

Board of Governors

Each member country is represented on NIB's Board of Governors by a government minister.